An imaginary African country Mungeruun gains its independence from the colonial authorities after a fairly protracted but bloodless struggle. An internal struggle for power between a few of its politicians is amicably sorted out in the interest of national cohesion. An army coup dtat that involved a lopsided assassination of principal officers and civilian leaders is followed by a countercoup with indiscriminate killing of officers and civilians alike. A devastating civil war in which the former colonial master plays less than an impartial role follows. An unusual collaboration between the Eastern and Western world power blocks ensures the defeat of the rebellious section of the country. That section had declared that its military technology was light-years ahead of that of the other side, perhaps thereby, provoking cooperation against her by strange bedfellows. The acclaimed leader of the free world is apparently persuaded to play a mere observer role under the persuasion that the conflict is an internal affair of the concerned country. The discovery of massive reserves of oil places the reunited country in an unprecedented economic advantage. But the new rich status of the country does not translate to a better life for the majority of the countrys peoples as monumental and unimaginable levels of corruption bedevils the framework of the once promising nation whose patriots of old had sacrificed so much to ensure its independence and progress. What went wrong? With the corruption of the young, even from the cradles, are there hopes for a return to the path of good and patriotic governance?

An imaginary African country Mungeruun gains its independence from the colonial authorities after a fairly protracted but bloodless struggle. An internal struggle for power between a few of its politicians is amicably sorted out in the interest of national cohesion. An army coup d'état that involved a lopsided assassination of principal officers and civilian leaders is followed by a countercoup with indiscriminate killing of officers and civilians alike. A devastating civil war in which the former colonial master plays less than an impartial role follows. An unusual collaboration between the Eastern and Western world power blocks ensures the defeat of the rebellious section of the country. That section had declared that its military technology was light-years ahead of that of the other side, perhaps thereby, provoking cooperation against her by strange bedfellows. The acclaimed leader of the free world is apparently persuaded to play a mere observer role under the persuasion that the conflict is an "internal affair" of the concerned country. The discovery of massive reserves of oil places the reunited country in an unprecedented economic advantage. But the "new rich" status of the country does not translate to a better life for the majority of the country's peoples as monumental and unimaginable levels of corruption bedevils the framework of the once promising nation whose patriots of old had sacrificed so much to ensure its independence and progress. What went wrong? With the corruption of the young, even from the cradles, are there hopes for a return to the path of good and patriotic governance?

Honoring relatives by tending graves, building altars, and cooking festive meals has been an honored tradition among Latin Americans for centuries. The tribute, "el Dia de los Muertos," has enjoyed renewed popularity since the 1970s when Latino activists and artists in the United States began expanding "Day of the Dead" north of the border with celebrations of performance art, Aztec danza, art exhibits, and other public expressions. Focusing on the power of ritual to serve as a communication medium, Regina M. Marchi combines a mix of ethnography, historical research, oral history, and critical cultural analysis to explore the manifold and unexpected transformations that occur when the tradition is embraced by the mainstream. A testament to the complex nature of ethnic identity, Day of the Dead in the USA provides insight into the power of ritual to create community, transmit oppositional messages, and advance educational, political, and economic goals.

It began long before John Hancock inked his signature on the Declaration of Independence but when the first shots were fired, they were heard around the world! This book is loaded with information and activities that will have kids' imaginations crossing icy rivers and dodging musket balls in the fight for freedom. And when the cannons' thunder faded, the world was forever changed - and a new country was about to be born! Kids will explore the ins and outs of the American Revolution from the first cries of dissent to the signing of the treaties which told the world that the United States of America was a power to be reckoned with. This 32-page book is reproducible and educational. A partial list of the Table of Contents include: A Timeline of Events How Our Nation Was Born: The American Revolution The Boston Massacre: March 5, 1770 December 16, 1773: Boston Tea Party Paul Revere's Ride Native Americans George Washington Declaration of Independence Revolutionary Uniforms Revolutionary Spies Additional Resources Glossary And More! This fun-fill activity book includes: Make Boston Tea Party Popcorn Make Cherry Thumbprint Cookies Make a Compass Make a Patriot Hat Make a Canoe Create a Five-pointed Star Create a Timeline Connect the Dots Answer the Questions And Much More!

The 22-book American Milestone series is featured as "Retailers Recommended Fabulous Products" in the August 2012 edition of Educational Dealer magazine. Kids will explore the ins and outs of the American Revolution from the first cries of dissent to the signing of the treaties which told the world that the United States of America was a power to be reckoned with. This 32-page book is reproducible loaded with activities that will have kids' imaginations crossing icy rivers and dodging musket balls in the fight for freedom. A partial list of the Table of Contents include: A Timeline of Events How Our Nation Was Born: The American Revolution The Boston Massacre: March 5, 1770 December 16, 1773: Boston Tea Party Paul Revere's Ride Native Americans George Washington Declaration of Independence Revolutionary Uniforms Revolutionary Spies Additional Resources Glossary And More! This fun-fill activity book includes: Make "Boston Tea Party Popcorn" Make Cherry Thumbprint Cookies Make a Compass Make a Patriot Hat Make a Canoe Create a Five-pointed Star Create a Timeline Connect the Dots Answer the Questions And Much More!

Networking the Nation is a micro-history of a community of women poets in Florence in the years leading up to Unification, but it also re-tells the larger history of British and American women's poetry by charting the untold story of the shift in women's poetry to a more public, political, and transnational voice.

Rap to Mars, a book of poetry, satire, and prose, attempts by words and art to dissect and sift through diverse aspects of the life of man in his quest to assert himself as the king or queen of the universe. This is even in spite of mans obvious lapses, frailties, and entrapment. During the course of various attempts, sometimes, success smiles on man. But when failures present themselves, arrogant and deceitful man refuses to accept his obvious limitations. Often, in his ever-willing efforts to deceive the more gullible, man in his cowardice plays the monkey that uses the cats paws to extract nuts from the fi re. From a safe distance, the minion, man, details his more gullible fellow men to sacrifi ce themselves and others in silly and assumed defense of the Almighty Maker. The martyr and suicide bomber along with their victims become the willing and unwilling by-products But even in spite of his sometimes comical shenanigans, man, who unsuccessfully plays the angel on Earth, remains man and suffers or causes others to suffer the pains arising from a perpetual struggle between the good and the bad as represented in Rap to Mars by Earths angels, suicide bombers, and whores. At the end of the day, man, mere mortal man, still fi nds himself trapped in his self-imposed cocoon of a shanty or a mansion. In the latter, man again plays the elitist parent of a lone child while the downtrodden fi nd their pleasure by doggedly obeying the injunction of increase and multiply. Rap to Mars is a mixed grill of fun, challenges, and what the evolving society was, what it is, and what it should fi ght hard not to be.

A distinction is drawn between two very similarities based on the two types of characters that the same type of society produced. Orie, Puzo and Nmaku who hail from Angwa and the adjoining Ocha remained back in the village and made their lives almost permanently there rarely knowing what was going on in the outside world but being nonetheless greatly influenced by the latter. Their daily chores are dictated by the daily basic necessities of the moment and they have little to worry perpetually about. A lot of their life is controlled by the dictations and predictions of the traditional medicine man who occasionally misfires in his predictions which have no scientific basis supporting them. His situation is often taken advantage of by the political class who have little or nothing to lose even if the polity collapses. But Livinus on the other end of the spectrum emerges from the civil war and through a dint of luck and hard work studies hard and becomes a doctor. He even proceeds overseas despite a close shave by arsonists. He specializes and returns home to Akunwanta town from where he is again catapulted by fate and focus to become the governor of his state after a battle between titans eliminates the principal contestants. He at first meant well and had the intention of helping to reform society. Post election litigation and his lack of the economic leverage almost cost him his mandate. But again fate plays a hard one on him and because of his lack of cash he gets tied up to the economic vampires of his society. He is bailed out by a coalition of these vampires and narrowly reclaims his mandate only after colossal bribing of umpires who were least expected to soil their hands. He decides never to go begging ever again and hence he delves headlong into the rot and decay, not by his will but by the circumstances prevailing around him.

In Honest Patriots, renowned public theologian and ethicist Donald W. Shriver, Jr. argues that we must acknowledge and repent of the morally negative events in our nation's past. The failure to do so skews the relations of many Americans to one another, breeds ongoing hostility, and damages the health of our society. Yet our civic identity today largely rests on denials, forgetfulness, and inattention to the memories of neighbors whose ancestors suffered great injustices at the hands of some dominant majority. Shriver contends that repentance for these injustices must find a place in our political culture. Such repentance must be carefully and deliberately cultivated through the accurate teaching of history, by means of public symbols that embody both positive and negative memory, and through public leadership to this end. Religious people and religious organizations have an important role to play in this process. Historically, the Christian tradition has concentrated on the personal dimensions of forgiveness and repentance to the near-total neglect of their collective aspects. Recently, however, the idea of collective moral responsibility has gained new and public visibility. Official apologies for past collective injustice have multiplied, along with calls for reparations. Shriver looks in detail at the examples of Germany and South Africa, and their pioneering efforts to foster and express collective repentance. He then turns to the historic wrongs perpetrated against African Americans and Native Americans and to recent efforts by American citizens and governmental bodies to seek public justice by remembering public injustice. The call for collective repentance presents many challenges: What can it mean to morally master a past whose victims are dead and whose sufferings cannot be alleviated? What are the measures that lend substance to language and action expressing repentance? What symbolic and tangible acts produce credible turns away from past wrongs? What are the dynamics-psychological, social, and political-whereby we can safely consign an evil to the past? How can public life witness to corporate crimes of the past in such a way that descendents of victims can be confident that they will never be repeated? In his provocative answers to these questions Shriver creates a compelling new vision of the collective repentance and apology that must precede real progress in relations between the races in this country.

Bringing together the work of a ground-breaking group of scholars working on the Italian Risorgimento to consider how modern Italian national identity was first conceived and constructed politically, the book makes a timely contribution to current discussions about the role of patriotism and the nature of nationalism in present-day Italy.

The Civil War is the greatest trauma ever experienced by the American nation, a four-year paroxysm of violence that left in its wake more than 600,000 dead, more than 2 million refugees, and the destruction (in modern dollars) of more than $700 billion in property. The war also sparked some of the most heroic moments in American history and enshrined a galaxy of American heroes. Above all, it permanently ended the practice of slavery and proved, in an age of resurgent monarchies, that a liberal democracy could survive the most frightful of challenges. In Fateful Lightning, two-time Lincoln Prize-winning historian Allen C. Guelzo offers a marvelous portrait of the Civil War and its era, covering not only the major figures and epic battles, but also politics, religion, gender, race, diplomacy, and technology. And unlike other surveys of the Civil War era, it extends the reader's vista to include the postwar Reconstruction period and discusses the modern-day legacy of the Civil War in American literature and popular culture. Guelzo also puts the conflict in a global perspective, underscoring Americans' acute sense of the vulnerability of their republic in a world of monarchies. He examines the strategy, the tactics, and especially the logistics of the Civil War and brings the most recent historical thinking to bear on emancipation, the presidency and the war powers, the blockade and international law, and the role of intellectuals, North and South. Written by a leading authority on our nation's most searing crisis, Fateful Lightning offers a vivid and original account of an event whose echoes continue with Americans to this day.

For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.